The Abyss in Zero
by Parce que
Summary: It's been 6 years since Lelouch, the Tyrant, was killed. 6 years for the Power of Kings to drive a sane man, Zero, mad, and for a certain blond brother to regain conciousness. When Nanaly's life is threatened, the time comes for the true Zero to return.


**AN:** So, since I've decided not to mess with any of the original plot of the amazing Code Geass, I'm just going to have to continue the story from where it left off…but what is a Code Geass fanfiction without Lelouch, eh? Yeah, I know, people debate between him being dead and alive, but (maybe just because I can't bear the thought of him dead) I sat in front of my laptop on a rainy day, gathering enough evidence to support my hypothesis that Lelouch lives (yeah I've got no life, but bear with it…)! Please give my little writing attempt a chance, and for those of you who make it all the way through the first chapter and review…_you get virtual chocolate_!! (lol) I'm trying my best here to make my writing worth your time.

**IMPORTANT**

People have different interpretations of what happens at the very end of Code Geass R2. This fanfic is based on my interpretation, so for you to understand the story, you have to understand my interpretation of the ending:

Before Suzaku 'kills' Lelouch, C.C is seen praying in the church. In this scene, she is transferring her immortality, her 'code,' to Lelouch. So, basically, when Suzaku 'kills' Lelouch, Lelouch has already become immortal. He has kept his promise to C.C, and has taken her immortality (C.C.'s still alive, but she's mortal now). Lelouch's new contract is with Suzaku—he has given Suzaku the power of the Geass, when Suzaku said, "Yeah, I accept it, the Geass." And what this means…is that when Suzaku's Geass's power reaches its peak, he will either have to take the immortality of Lelouch by force (killing him, like Lelouch's father took V.V.'s immortality by force) or by Lelouch's will, giving up his code the way C.C. did. And, as we all should know, Suzaku has taken the place of Lelouch Lamperouge as Zero, Nanaly has taken the place of Lelouch vi Britannia as Empress. The only people aware of Lelouch's selfless sacrifice for the world are : Suzaku, C.C., Nanaly(when she touched his hand, he transferred his memories, since he had C.C.'s transferred powers), Karen, 'Orange' (I love that dude) and Sayoko. Nanaly and Karen both believe him to be dead, while the other four, having acted under his orders and knowing what the Geass truly does, know that he is alive, and keep that fact a sealed secret. Lelouch is currently living with mortal C.C., concealing himself from the world, but reasonably happy.

Thanks so much for reading that long interpretation explanation—I swear the rest will be more interesting. But I had to go through the boring process of explanation, otherwise I'm afraid there might have been a few "Wha…?"s (translated as 'What the heck's going on? I'm outta here…').

Oh, before I forget… I don't own Code Geass, and all that other disclaimy stuffs. I'm sure you know the drill.

And now we begin, a six years after the death of the Tyrant, Lelouch vi Britannia…

**Chapter 1: Abnormal**

In this universe, there are three terrible brothers. They seek to destroy the world, to throw it into turmoil, to create a living hell. Wherever these three brothers go, they leave in their wake a flood of pain, sadness, and suffering.

Violence, hate, and injustice…

It was to palliate the severity of their destruction that Lelouch vi Britannia—no, Lelouch Lamperouge, gave up his life and his name. He sucked the land dry of that flood, bearing the pain, the sadness, and the suffering, even when it threatened to burst inside him.

It wasn't like he expected them to come to a complete stop, of course not…that kind of impossible dream was what his father, Charles di Britannia, and his brother, Schneizel el Britannia, tried to achieve, a world without a future…a nightmare.

So why did he swallow that flood, to the last drop, fully aware that another flood would start again? It wasn't for the greater good, because not even he is that selfless…no, it was for his friends, Suzaku, Karen, Shirley, Millay, Rivalz, Nina, for his wronged dead sister, Euphie, but most of all…it was for his living sister, Nanaly.

Nanaly, whom he was willing to lie for, to die for…to kill for.

Nanaly, who, at this moment, was in severe danger, because of _his _naivety, his miscalculation, his misplaced trust.

Nanaly, who, as empress of Britannia, was the current target of the Americans.

Even though he had relinquished Britannia's tyrannical rule over many countries during his short rule as emperor, there were a few still a few areas that detested Britannia for its almost-autocracy. America, which used to be one of the world's most powerful countries, had regained it's status in a matter of years—the six years between Lelouch's 'death' and now. And now…America was strong enough to challenge Britannia, and certainly proud enough to do so. All that prevented them from breaking into an all-out power-hungry war…was the tip of a very, very fragile iceberg.

A tip that, once broken, cannot be reformed.

A tip that Britannia was going break in a matter of days, or even less. And Japan's own Black Knights were going to support its former enemies.

What would happen if it came down to an all-out war? A merciless chess game. The king would be the target—capture the king, and you win. But Britannia's king…was his beloved sister, Nanaly.

And he would not let his sister be put in danger. Even if it meant returning to the real world, even if it meant condemning his best friend to the curse of immortality that he was currently carrying…

Even if it meant swallowing another flood.

--

"Man, why can't we just leave Britannia to fend for itself? I mean, it's not like we're indebt to them or anything! We've got our own country back now, good old Japan, so—"

"Tamaki, be quiet. This is Zero's decision, we will do as he says," snapped an irritated Ougi. And although his words were such, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he agreed, at least slightly, with the rowdy child-like man.

"But Japan's been long liberated! I know he's my best bud and all, but seriously, why can't we just live in peace after all that work? Why get all involved in those stupid Britannian matters?"

A shift in the corner of the room caused heads to turn--there, a tall man sat, his face seeming like a mask of stony indifference. But, perhaps, he felt just the same as the other two, though his words begged to differ.

"Remember our mistakes in trusting and doubting Zero. He liberated Japan, and freed the world of that Zero-imposter tyrant, Lelouch vi Britannia. Zero, in the end, has yet to render our trusts misplaced."

A murmur of agreement followed, but it was not without traces of doubt. After all, Zero had never told them the complete truth.

"Well, I guess…but don't you guys think that Zero's been a bit…I dunno…not himself, after the Tyrant got killed? I mean, when we're in battle and stuff. We've been really close to losing, and sometimes it feels like we only win by…luck, or something." Tamaki scratched his head, sighing. The action caused a small fly to hurry away, to the safety of a mass of pink.

A slendr hand shot out, and in less than a second, the unfortunate creature was dead.

"What do you mean, Tamaki? We still win in the end, and it's the result that matters," supplied the owner of the hand, not sounding all that convinced herself. But the effect on the intended target was certainly different.

"Yeah, I guess. Zero's probably just using some complex strategy that we wouldn't understand," replied Tamaki, a shrug immediately following his response. The carefree action lessened the tension in the room, if only by a bit.

The vanished tension was replaced by silence, a sign that the quick meeting was over. Each anxious to attend to their own matters, began the process of excusing themselves. The fly-murderer joined in with the excusing.

"Well, if there's nothing else left to discuss, I'll be going. Gotta get my Knightmare ready." With that, Karen stood up, and walked out the door. The door closed just as a comrade began to bid her farewell for the rest of the hour.

Her excuse was genuine, though, so she didn't feel half as bad as she should. There was to be a battle tonight, one against America's little island-state, Hawaii, and her Knightmare really did need some last-minute polishes. The battle itself was a surprise one that the Black Knights were aiding the Britannians in. Karen, like most of the others, didn't see the complete sense of helping Britannia wage war against America, but if it was Zero's choice…if it was Zero's choice, she would trust him.

It was tiring, really.

_Zero's not himself anymore, eh? _

The statement was completely on target. The Zero they knew was dead. The one they called 'the Tyrant,' Lelouch, her former friend and comrade.

Karen realized too late what Lelouch had been doing in his three months of cruel dictatorship, but thinking back on it, even if she had known, what could she have done? Sometimes, one person's life had to be sacrificed to obtain what Lelouch did. In such times, she doubted there was anyone other than Lelouch strong and capable enough to do what he did for the world.

Hearing people mock him, insult him, sometimes she wanted to tell them all about what he had done for them, being one of the only ones that understood…because out of all the members of the Black Knights, she was one of the only ones that knew Lelouch, the person. The person was so much harder to understand, and even after knowing him for so long...she still couldn't credit herself with truly understanding him. As for telling her comrades about Lelouch's sacrifice...that wasn't what Lelouch would have wanted…

So she kept quiet.

To the current Zero, too, she pretended to know nothing.

Karen simply placed her trust in him, the original Zero's replacement, knowing that Lelouch had placed all his trust in the current Zero as well.

Ever since Lelouch's death, her thoughts would suddenly drift into the past, wishing she'd known more about him. It wasn't just that...She would also think about all the things he did for them, his friends, his Order, his world. And when she saw those pictures of him hanging on her wall, the ones taken with the student council, she'd smile.

Maybe, one day, they'll meet again…and when they do, she'll say to him the _thank you_ she never had the chance to say…

--

"C.C, I'm not asking you to come with me," stated Lelouch, situating himself properly in the uncomfortable seat.

"I know." Those two words were stated matter-of-factly, and seemingly without a care in the world. Maybe it should be just as so, since the world hadn't a care for her...but now was not the time for such matters.

"It will be dangerous, now that that you're mortal," pressed the dark-haired man.

C.C. raised her eyebrows, attention finally focusing away from her nails.

"Oh? Are you worrying about me?"

"…"

A smirk found its way across the woman's face.

"Do you honestly think that you'd be able to leave me behind on this type of adventure that I haven't had in years?"

"C.C., this isn't…"

"You know, sticking around with nothing but Cheese-kun, a paper crane, and an immortal genius can get boring."

Lelouch frowned, staring at the dark blue sky, and then sighed.

"Fine. But don't do anything dangerous."

The green-haired woman replied with a silent smile, before gracefully climbing into the stolen Knightmare. Even without her powers and immortality, her movements were still fluid and smooth.

"In any sort of this danger your speak of, I'm sure my immortal knight will save me, won't he?"

"Sure, after he saves himself," replied Lelouch jokingly.

Long, elegant fingers tapped swiftly onto the elaborate set of keys in front of the man, and the Knightmare reacted accordingly.

"Here we go," he muttered, and the large machine overtook gravity, flying off into the dark night. Lelouch did not know the exact time of the attack, but from personal experience, a battle of such a nature would best be initiated a few hours after dark, long enough to give the opposing sense a false sense of security.

He could not afford to arrive too late—the battle would have already begun, and he would not have been able to prevent it. But neither could he afford to arrive too early—if he were to be detected, a random, well-equipped, highly developed foreign Knightmare might start the battle instead of preventing it.

If only he had returned to Japan earlier…he might have realized their—along with Britannia's—intents early enough to prevent them before the date of the set attack. The thing was...with two armies fully prepared for the battle…what could one person do to stop them?

It seemed impossible…but he would do it. For Nanaly.

Nanaly…

Her name brought up a nagging thought.

Nanaly hated violence.

So…why would she, as the Empress, allow Britannia to start an unnecessary war?

No, something was off. Not that it changed any of his plans, because that was all the more reason for Lelouch to stop this war. If Nanaly truly wished it, Lelouch would not have stopped her, except…Lelouch knew his sister, and his beloved sister hated violence, detestedit, _loathed _it, enough to be willing to destroy her own brother.

And what Britannia was doing was certainly not by Nanaly's will.

Nanaly, as Lelouch's sister, daughter of Lady Marianne and Charles di Britannia, was intelligent enough to solve, or at least allay the problem by means other than outright war.

Which meant…

Something was definitely off.

--

It was almost time.

A few mere minutes before the invasion began…

Schneizel paced around the aircraft in anticipation. His slow steps to success…will begin again tonight. Those steps, those stairs he had crawled, all that hard work…only to be shoved back down by his beautiful, hateful little brother.

But this time, little boy Lelouch was out of the equation, destroyed by codename Zero, a fake one, by his calculations. As for the power of his Geass…well, he supposed the most intelligent of all his siblings would have tested the duration of its affect, but…Lelouch probably didn't even have the Geass for 2000 days, before his death.

And so convenient it happened to be, that it was cute, gullible Nanaly on the throne when the effects of the Geass died. He had no jaoy in hurting his sister--Schneizel wasn't that sadistic. It was simply that the wants of a single person must be sacrificed for the world.

"Lord Schneizel, the Black Knights have sent their confirmation," reported a man by the name of Kanon Maldini.

"Ah, yes…well then, I suppose it's time." Those words were recieved with a panicked look on a pale face.

"Wait! If you do this…if you do this, people that don't have to die will die! That isn't peace!"

The man turned around, and walked calmly in front of the lady in the wheelchair. Slowly, he kneeled down, and stared evenly into her blue eyes.

"You're right. This isn't peace. But it will lead to peace."

"No! Onii-sama...onii-sama...you'll destroy everything onii-sama worked for! You can't—"

Her words were cut off by a soft laugh, one that, for all it's melodious sound, held no comfort or kindness.

"Just sit and watch…after all, that's all that you're good for, your Highness."

_And then, when your 'good' has run out…I will have no other choice than to dispose of you…_

…_My dear little sister._

_--_

_(Hands out virtual chocolate)_

Yeah, i know, it seemed a bit...choppy. Bear with me...Lelouch and Suzaku are about to have a face-off

Well, I guess that was supposed to just start everything off, but even so...how was it? Schneizel evil enough? I love his character, he's so awesomefuls(not a word, but who cares...)...

Anyways... please review it makes my day XD. And with so many term tests crammed into my day, along with loads and loads of other crappy stuff...well, you get the picture.

And this time, you'll get cookies...(yes, I am bribing readers with virtual food, and I don't feel bad about it.)


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